The Stray
by Deshera
Summary: AU, Two years after his lover dies in a tragic fire Agutsuma Soubi aspiring artist still lives alone and heart broken when a sudden twist of fate in the form of a mysterious cat boy drasticly changes his life forever.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Loveless or any of its characters but, that won't keep me from doing dirty things with them.

**Rating:** T (This will be a rather highly rated T at times but a T none the less.)

**Warnings:** mild language, boy/boy relationships, under age love,

**Notes:** Although this story uses the loveless characters it does not take place in the Loveless universe. So sorry no cat ears or tails…well everyone except Ritsuka.

* * *

Soubi sighed as he took one last drag of his cigarette before crushing it under foot. The club that he and his friend Kio had gone to didn't allow smoking for one reason or another. So Soubi had to discreetly step outside when Kio went to use the restroom, in order to have a quick smoke. It was already well after dark and Kio would probably try and drag him to another club or two. He hadn't wanted to go out on the town tonight but Kio had positively insisted. It was several days after the second anniversary of Seimei's death and Kio was vehement that he had to get outside rather than sulk inside his apartment as he had planed to do. Seimei, his one and only love had died in that tragic fire and ever since that day Soubi's life had been empty. A sudden loud crash and some excited laughter brought Soubi out of his musings. Curiously he peered around the near by corner and into the ally.

A small group of delinquent teens were huddled by a dumpster half hidden from sight. An excited flurry of hushed comments meet his prying ears from the group.

"Hey, hold him down already!"

"I'm trying! He's squirming too much."

"Ouch! The little mongrel bit me!"

Soubi sighed to himself once more and walked down the ally to the group. They were probably torturing some poor defenseless stray animal.

"Hey!" Immediately the young teen's eyes shot upwards at Soubi. When he wanted to Soubi could look quite intimidating and suddenly being cornered in a dark ally by him seemed to be a little too much for the group of three. His already intense glare grew nearly demonic as he spotted the small squirming ball of fur one of them was still clutching frozen in place by Soubi's glare.

"Scram!" instantaneously they dropped all they were holding and bolted at the chance to flee from the freighting adult.

Instantly the tiny kitten dashed away and took refuge behind the near by dumpster. Noting that the animal was free from them now, he decided to leave. Spooking the kids seemed charity enough for a mangy stray. As Soubi started to turn away a slight glint of metal caught his attention. Bending down he inspected the items that the kids dropped more closely. A few needles and a lighter lay on the ground before him. Inquisitively he tried to pick them up and immediately dropped them. The needles were hot and reeked of burnt flesh.

"Shit. Those little bastards were burning the thing?" Soubi groaned as he scooted over to the dumpster. He couldn't just leave the cat there. If he did its injury could get infected and it would die. Leaving the poor thing to suffer like that would make him no better than those assholes.

Soubi looked into the inky darkness of the kittens hiding place. Eventually he found a pair of glittering violet eyes staring back at him in an accusing fashion. For some odd reason Soubi felt compelled to defend him self at the kitten's nonverbal accusations that he was probably just like those little bastards.

"Hey, I just saved you ya know. I'm not like those assholes; I'm trying to help you."

In response the kitten huddled further against the wall just out of reach. Soubi dropped his head at the realization he was talking as if the animal actually understood him. He had always hated animals and especially pet owners who would jabber on and on to their pets as if they were an actual person and now he was doing it to a stupid stray.

The tiny kitten quivered slightly when he went to reach for it. Soubi froze when it growled at him and braced itself for a run.

Soubi frowned slightly at his predicament. Ok, so how the hell was he going to get to it now? After a few moments he slowly slid his coat off. He had to get it right on the first try. It was already dark out and if it escaped there would be no way to find it again. Chasing after a black cat in the middle of the night was pretty much impossible. With a quick flick of the wrist his coat landed squarely on the kitten. Soubi smiled to himself in slight victory as he watched it try to bolt only to get entangled in the garment.

Gathering his coat and its occupant up Soubi took off for his apartment. He needed to get to a well lit place where it couldn't run away from him and his place was only a couple of blocks away.

A small mew attracted Soubi's attention to the squirming mass that was his coat. "Don't worry; I'm not like those brats. I'm not going to hurt you but I need to take you home in order to see how bad it is other wise I can't help you." He cooed softly to the frightened kitten trying to relax it. Damn it, he was doing it again.

--

Just when the kitten finally seemed to calm down Soubi's cell rang from somewhere deep within the bowels of his coat where the kitten lay. Slowly he jostled the coat trying to find the pocket that held the offending item. With a bit of effort he managed to pull it out while still keeping the now desperately struggling kitten held tight.

"Sou-chan Where are you? I take off for one second and you jump ship? Come on, it's been over two years. You need to try and get over this. You don't talk to any one, you never go out and you've all but stopped painting. How the hell your still in school at all is a mystery to me. You need some human interaction. This isn't healthy."

Yet again tonight Soubi found himself sighing. "Actually I just stepped out for a smoke but something just came up and I need to head back to my place. How about you come over tomorrow and then we'll do something."

Kio pouted on the line for a moment before finally replying. "OK, I'll give you tonight but you have to promise me that we will do something tomorrow. I won't allow you to back out no matter what."

Soubi smiled grimly before replying. "Yes Kio, it's a promise." Soubi closed his phone only to realize that he was already at his front door. Some how, with out even noticing it he had already gotten to his apartment.

--

"We'll let's have a good look at you." Soubi plopped the bundle down on his kitchen table and before he had even completely loosened his grip a fuzzy black head popped out of a crevice. Immediately the kitten looked up at Soubi and glared at him with the most menacing face it could muster. Honestly, if he wasn't concerned for the thing's welfare at the moment he probably would have laughed at the not so frightening glare.

With one quick motion he managed to pin it down by the scruff of the neck and pull his coat off of it. Once again Soubi found himself being watched by a glittering pair of angry violet eyes. For a moment all he could do was stare back at the angry kitten. For the life of him he had never seen a cat with violet eyes before and quite frankly he never knew a cat could even have violet eyes in the first place.

With out warning the kitten suddenly shifted its weight and managed to spin around just enough to let it sink its tiny little fangs into the soft flesh Soubi's hand that connected the fingers and thumb, thoroughly catching him off guard. Instinctively Soubi jerked his hand away causing small wounds to rip where the kitten's tiny needle sharp fangs had sunk in.

Upon gaining its freedom the small kitten bolted off the table, across Soubi's living room, and finally came to a stop under the futon Soubi used as a couch. Settling down in its new sanctuary among the shadows it watched Soubi as he nursed his tender wound.

Frustrated and more than a little bit tired Soubi flung his coat on the couch and stomped his way into his kitchen. After several minuets of searching Soubi finally located the spare can of tuna he kept on hand for Kio, since he usually liked tuna sandwiches when he came over. Soubi quickly emptied the contents of the can on a small plate before setting it down in front of the futon.

After flicking the lights out Soubi nearly collapsed on his bed in exhaustion.

* * *

**Additional Notes**: _Sorry yaoi fan girls this isn't going to be a, you saved me so use my body as you wish story. This is my sincere attempt at making a deep, thoughtful story that lasts for more than two chapters. Don't worry I do intend to scatter it with fluff to keep it from getting to dark and dear god the fluff will be deadly… Come on, Ritsuka actually _is_ a cat in my story. I hope you enjoy it._


End file.
